Tag: Antoine Bethea

1. Great times yesterday at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hoboken…I am happy to report everybody I was with avoided the $2,000 fines that were being handed out like candy on Halloween. I got a decent amount of love for my “Revis Island” shirt. Sure, there were plenty of bitter Giants fans celebrating the Antrel Rolle signing like they just picked up Ronnie Lott in his prime, but I mean hey any time you can make a guy who might not even be a top ten player in the league at his position the highest paid safety in NFL history…hey, go for it.

2. I am heading out to Austin, Texas from Tuesday to Sunday with some college friends, so posts might be a little more sparse than I would normally like but if anything major happens, I’ll obviously be on it and of course follow the facebook page and twitter account for updates.

3. The 2010 Draft section has been updated.

Thoughts On Kerry Rhodes Trade & Weekend Wrap-Up

When I woke up this morning and saw all the information on the Kerry Rhodes trade, I wasn’t surprised to see he was moved. The momentum had been building on this for awhile and even though Mike Tannenbaum made it sound like he would be back during the Antonio Cromartie conference call, you still had a feeling he wouldn’t be playing for the Jets in 2010. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled with the value they got back from Arizona. The original reports from last week had Arizona potentially sending over a 3rd round pick, but as we know it ended up being a 4th rounder and a 7th rounder next year. I suppose that it is decent value for a guy who has never been a pro-bowler but the Jets still now have a hole at safety.

It sounds like the Jets are content to let Eric Smith take over but I can’t really see Tannenbaum standing pat here. I don’t know if he will try to make a move up in the draft to grab Eric Berry or Earl Thomas, look at the second round tender on Baltimore’s Dawan Landry or has something else in mind but I’d be shocked if the Jets didn’t bring in somebody else to pair with Jim Leonhard. Eric Smith is a decent player but he has some limitations in pass coverage and isn’t much of a playmaker. The Jets defense isn’t better with Smith and James Ihedigbo taking the major reps at safety over Rhodes.

In retrospect, I now have another jersey of a former Jets player. I could slide my #25 jersey next to my Chad Pennington, Jonathan Vilma, Laveranues Coles, Santana Moss, and Curtis Conway (yikes) ones. Like most Jets fans, I was huge Rhodes fan when he instantly became a productive player as a fourth round pick in 2005. He took his game to the next level in 2006 with a monster season, in which he probably should have received All-Pro recognition. Unfortunately, his play has declined in every season since, culminating with him being benched in week 10 this past year. Rhodes never seemed to click with the new coaching staff and was apparently wearing thin on the locker room with his “Hollywood” attitude. Regardless, TOJ wishes Rhodes luck in Arizona and will have always fond memories of the big plays he made from 2005-2009.

It is nice the Jets added a fourth round pick and now currently only have one round in which they don’t pick (third). I also expect they will pick up another selection when compensatory picks are announced. The Jets need depth on both sides of the ball and have been short on draft picks in recent years, so the more overall selections the better.

In terms of where they go from here, there hasn’t been much written on Adalius Thomas in the past 48 hours but I still expect when everything is said and done, that he will end up on the Jets. Mike Tannenbaum has been giving the impression the Jets will definitely add another one or maybe even two, corners. Corey Ivy remains a potential target. Ralph Brown, Frank Walker, Benny Sapp, and Roderick Hood are other available players the Jets could consider.

Marques Douglas is attracting interest from the Patriots, Panthers, and Titans. I really hope the Jets use some of the money they freed up from Kerry Rhodes, Thomas Jones, Donald Strickland, and Lito Sheppard to get Douglas back. He was a valuable part of their defense and is a quality 3-4 end, which are hard to come by. Mike DeVito was pretty good last year but is better served as a rotational player, providing depth very similar to Eric Smith. The Jets have the money to sign him and their defense will be better overall with him. There is no reason to have too much turnover on the league’s #1 defense.

Pro Football Talk is reporting the market could soon heat up for Leon Washington. Yet, they don’t name any specific teams. Even if another team signs Washington to an offer sheet, I can’t see the Jets letting Thomas Jones and Leon Washington walk in one off-season. Jones is going to get more money offered somewhere else and likely not return. Tannenbaum has said the Jets will target a veteran running back, although the options are fairly slim. Mike Bell’s name has been thrown around but beyond him I haven’t heard another running back specifically mentioned.

1. According to www.mlive.comthe Detroit Lions will either play the New England Patriots or our New York Jets on Thanksgiving. Obviously, the NFL has to choose the Jets because they are much more entertaining, Rex Ryan needs to be involved in a holiday associated with mass consumption of food, and because the Jets need a chance to make up for the 34-3 beat-down they took from Dallas on Thanksgiving in 2007.

2. NEW SECTION ALERT – I’ve added a 2010 Draft Section, as you can imagine there is all the information you need on the upcoming NFL Draft for the Jets, and of course it will updated accordingly as April 22nd gets closer.

3. Follow Turn On The Jets on facebook, because we are only 5 fans away from 200 and you want to be the person who ends up being the 200th fan.

4. Leon Washington sustained a compound fracture in his fibula last year, so it was stupid for me to say yesterday that he is coming off major knee surgery, because he isn’t, he is coming off major fibula surgery…you can’t generalize in the lower half of the body, that was the Eric Mangini in me coming out.

5. I am feeling a strong bounce-back episode for LOST tonight.

What Should The Jets Do With Kerry Rhodes?

I get the impression from most of the Jets beat writers that they believe Kerry Rhodes won’t be back in 2010, and I also get the impression that most fans would like to see Rhodes somewhere else next season. It isn’t hard to blame them. Rhodes was a major disappointment for the bulk of the past year. He was average at best through the first 10 games of the regular season, was rightfully benched, played better over the final 6 games, although he was still inconsistent at times and then came through witha few huge plays in the Jets Divisional Round win over the Chargers. At the end of the year, Rex Ryan didn’t give a glowing endorsement about him coming back. Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine had some issues with him throughout the season. There are some reports, mostly from Rich Cimini of the Daily News, that Rhodes isn’t very popular in the locker room and people are tired of his “Hollywood” persona.

Regardless, in his end of the year press conference Mike Tannenbaummade it sound like Rhodes would be back next season. He said there isn’t a contract issue with him but instead an issue with making sure he is wholly invested in the off-season program. Yet knowing Tannenbaum’s history, I am sure he will be exploring trade options for Rhodes considering it doesn’t appear that he is a Rex Ryan type of player and because let’s face it…Tannenbaum just loves making trades. He can’t go through a whole off-season without one.

Personally, I think the Jets should bring Rhodes back next season. I don’t think they are going to get great value for him on the trade market. They aren’t going to get better by receiving a 5th or 6th round pick for him. I don’t want to see Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo platooning at safety next to Jim Leonhard because the Jets traded Rhodes for a late draft pick and weren’t able to sign another safety because of their free agency limitations. If Tannenbaum can get creative and somehow find a way to get a guy like Roman Harper, Antoine Bethea, or O.J. Atogwe than yes part with Rhodes because you have a way to replace him. If we are just talking about getting a draft pick for him, it better be at least a 3rd rounder so the Jets will have some flexibility to maybe move up and replace him through the draft but even at a 3rd rounder I wouldn’t be crazy about the move. Unfortunately, Eric Mangini isn’t making personnel decisions anymore in Cleveland because I’m sure he would have gave the Jets a 2nd round pick for him, and probably would have thrown in Josh Cribbs for good measure.

In the end, I think Rhodes will be back and it won’t be the worst thing in the world. You can’t argue with his talent level but it becomes a matter of him reaching it on a consistent level. He played a great all-around game in a huge spot against the Chargers last year, showed his pass coverage ability against Tony Gonzalez in the Atlanta game (I still don’t know why Rex Ryan moved to zone on the last play), and made some big plays in the Carolina game. He may never be the big play, pro-bowl caliber player he was in 2006 and 2007 but he could still be a solid contributor on this defense playing alongside Jim Leonhard.